The Fourth Champion, My Former Best Friend
by AstonishedOwl
Summary: After Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, how does Ron feel?I've said it before and i'll say it again. I'm terrible at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

As Cedric was declared the Hogwarts Champion, Ron rolled his eyes. _Guess the Goblet only goes with the popular choices._ He turned to Harry, about to voice his thoughts, when he heard a gasp echo throughout the room. He turned back to Dumbledore, just in time to see his shocked expression. The headmaster cleared his throat, then announced _"Harry Potter."_

For a second, Ron was confused: why did he call for Harry? Then he saw the small piece of scorched parchment in his hand. He was numbly aware of Hermione telling his best friend to move, and pushing him towards the front of the room. He remained frozen until everyone was dismissed moments later, amid great conversation. When he finally made it to his dormitory, his numbness was replaced by simple confusion.

_Why did Harry's name come out of the Goblet? How? Is this all a huge prank? _Then he suddenly realized. _He put it there himself._

Ron desperately tried to reason as to why the conclusion had to be wrong. Harry hated his fame; he always got embarrassed whenever people would glance up at his scar upon hearing his name. Harry hated the reverence with which people would speak about him. He hated how people would whisper to their neighbors that the black-haired kid was the famous Harry Potter.

_And yet…how else could his name have been called?_ a sly thought remarked. _Maybe he actually **loves** all the attention he receives, and tries to hide it, so he'll seem even nobler._ Any argument Ron might have been able to think of was instantly obliterated as a huge cheer sounded from the common room. Ron knew that Harry had arrived. He was probably enjoying the huge party being thrown for him, for his incredible feat of crossing the Age Line.

As if the cheer had invited them in, a smoldering mix of feelings suddenly took Ron: jealousy, anger, and resentment.

The snide voice drowned out all other thoughts. _See? He really is enjoying his fame. Right now, I bet he has no idea that his friend is waiting for him to come up. _Ron was alone with his thoughts for a few more minutes until he heard Harry shout something from downstairs and start heading towards the dormitory.

When Harry finally opened the door, Ron saw that he had apparently enjoyed the party: he had a large scarlet Gryffindor ribbon tied around him. The nasty voice was right. Ron tried to grin at his best friend, but Ron could tell that without seeing that it was forced.

"Where've you been?" Harry said.

Well hi to you too.

"Oh, hello."

Harry looked down and apparently noticed the banner draped around him. Ron simply watched as he untied the many knots keeping it in place. Out of desperation, he decided to try to see if Harry really was pleased about being chosen as a champion.

"So, congratulations."

"What d'you mean, congratulations?"

A small feeling of hope began to kindle in Ron's mind. The irritation with which Harry spoke seemed to suggest that he didn't want to be congratulated. _He's probably just got a headache. He's trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes! He's even trying to fool his best friend! He just wants the fame and money that winning the Cup will bring. He knows that he would get in trouble if he tried to enter otherwise. Heh. Give him a compliment, his ego needs a boost._

"Well…no one else got across the Age Line. Not even Fred and George. What did you use – the Invisibility Cloak?"

"The Invisibility Cloak wouldn't have got me over that line."

_See? He's lying again. _No! He's my friend…he wouldn't lie to me. He wouldn't. Feeling slightly better, he spoke his thoughts aloud.

"Oh, right, I thought you might've told me if it was the cloak, because it would've covered both of us, wouldn't it?"

His bitterness suddenly returned, and he sharply remarked "but you found another way, did you?"

"Listen, I didn't put my name in that goblet. Someone else must have done it." _Ah, here it is, the famous shift of blame. Let's see if we can get him caught in his lie?_

"Why would they do that for?"

"I dunno." _Won't even give a suspect. I tell you, he really is becoming a celebrity airhead._

Suddenly, the feelings that had come along with Harry's entrance into the Gryffindor common room overtook Ron, and it was all he could do to keep himself from punching his famous, lying, best friend right in the jaw.

"It's okay, you know, you can tell me the truth. If you don't want everyone else to know, fine, but I don't know why you're bothering to lie, you didn't even get into trouble for it, did you? That friend of the Fat Lady's, that Violet, she's already told us all about Dumbledore's letting you enter. A thousand Galleons prize money, eh?" The idiot, that's probably more money than I'll ever have, and yet he has at least twice that much in his Gringotts account. "And you don't have to do end-of year tests either…"

"I didn't put my name in that goblet!" _He's like a hippogriff with a rat with that excuse._

"Yeah, okay. Only you said this morning you'd have done it last night, and no one would've seen you….I'm not stupid, you know."

"You're doing a really good impression of it!"

Although Ron was actually very hurt at Harry's insult, he needed to have the last word in the argument.

"Yeah? You want to get to bed, Harry. I expect you'll need to be up early tomorrow for a photo-call or something." And with that, Ron drew the hangings shut around his bed and hid the view of his once-best friend.

Eh? Eh? How do you like it? I never even came onto this site until around the beginning of summer break, at the urging of my friend Thayet1231 (hehe she'll attack me next time she sees me because of this. Oh poop.)

Anyway, it's only my first FanFic, so please be gentle with reviews!

I hope to have the next part up soon, but I'm very erratic with when I feel like writing. In fact, its almost 1:00 right now, and I'm tired, and when I'm tired, I babble! So I'll stop wasting your time (my mind started wandering about three sentences ago) and plead for you to review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or it's characters, although I wish I did. I'm just a hopeless romantic with far too much time on my hands, as are all the writers on this site. Oops. I probably just incurred the wrath of everyone in this site. begins to run away

When Ron woke the next morning, it took him a full minute to remember why he felt so betrayed. Then his memory abruptly returned, and wondered if it would be worth detention to set the hangings on Harry's bed on fire. He glared at the hidden person for a moment, and began getting dressed.

Staring moodily at his toast, which he had stabbed so much that it resembled scrambled eggs, Ron barely noticed someone sitting down next to him. He jumped when Hermione murmured "Are you okay?"

Although he planned on saying that he was, his mouth had other ideas.

"Oh, of _course_ I'm fine. I haven't just been stabbed in the back and left to rot by a certain famous –" the word Ron used made his wand start to give off a foul-smelling smoke "who just decided that little more attention couldn't hurt. _Of course I'm fine!_"

Other than raising her eyebrows a little at Ron's vocabulary, Hermione remained silent as Ron continued his tirade, finally interrupting a string of curses to quietly say "Why are you angry?"

Ron stared at her in disbelief, before growling and stomping off in the direction of the grounds.

As he wandered around the castle, muttering words that made passing first-years stare in fear and awe, Ron wondered _why _he was so angry. _Because your best friend has turned his back on you, of course. Honestly, are you that slow? _Already getting fed up at the voice, Ron turned around to go back to the common room, glancing out the window. What he saw made him seethe in anger.

Harry and Hermione walking side by side by the lake. _Well, he certainly was quick. He already has a supporter. And now you have been betrayed by both of them. _Ron began the walk back to the Gryffindor house to finish his homework and generally avoid Harry.

As he passed the Owlery, he saw Harry and Hermione about to enter. _He's already sending out news of his success? That didn't take long. Then again, the story will appear pretty soon in the Daily Prophet. He probably wants to sell them an interview._

In an even fouler mood than before, Ron decided spend the day with Dean, Neville, and the others, instead of the celebrity. He knew full well that his brothers would sense something was up, and tease him about it to no end; he would make sure his brothers know they should be quiet.

Ron knew that he would have to see Harry during classes, but simply decided to use a human shield.

"Ron, why won't you say a thing to Harry/" Hermione questioned Ron in a whisper, while Harry collected supplies for Herbology. Ron was busy ignoring her, smirking as he saw Hufflepuffs casually bump Harry and cut in front of him in line. "At least sit next to him! He mis—"Any further words were silenced as Harry came back and class began.

Although Ron was sure that Harry would be flaunting his success, he was mildly surprised when Harry stayed nearly silent during the entire class, except for when he muttered curses after being hit in the forehead with a Bouncing Bulb. Ernie and Justin both laughed at this in a way that would have earned them both punches from Ron at any other time, but now simply resulted in him smirking along with them.

During Care of Magical Creatures class, Ron began wondering if, while he was walking the Blast-Ended Skrewt, he could somehow "lose control" of the overgrown lizard and send it rampaging in Harry's direction. His plans were quickly put on ice, though, when he saw Hagrid walking away with Harry. Knowing that he could hurt Hagrid as well if he continued his plan. His disappointment was quickly chased away by the anger he was steadily becoming used to. _He's got Hagrid on his fan list too? Yeah, I guess he would need a bodyguard. _Ron was quickly distracted from his sullen thoughts by a jet of flame that passed dangerously close to his leg, and decided to pay closer attention to his skrewt for the rest of class.

Eh? Is it okay?

Hehe I don't like to swear, but I hope my description of Ron's foulmouthed language is good enough.

Sorry for any Ron/Harry lovers out there, but I just want to show what Ron is thinking. Please don't hurt me.

Until next time (whenever I feel like writing),

UP, UP, AND AWAY! (Flies off to the mystical land of summer reading)


	3. Chapter 3

Alas! I know I've been a terrible deadline-keeper, but all of my ideas for this story never shut up when I'm away from the computer, and hide when I finally do get in front of the keyboard. So I finally got fed up, and lassoed those ideas while they were dancing around my head with glee. Without further ado, I threw them, kicking and screaming, into the story. Enjoy!

PS Sorry for skipping a few days in the book, but I couldn't think of anything to write.

While he waited in the hallway for Double Potions to start, Ron realized that it would be the first time he'd had the class without Harry next to him to help insult Snape or whisper as to why his potion had suddenly turned an ominous black. But these thoughts, just like before, were whisked away when he saw Harry approaching, to be replaced with a simmering anger.

Suddenly, a snide voice broke through his thoughts.

"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy swaggered up the hallway, making sure something on his robes caught the meager light. For the first time, Ron noticed that all the Slytherins had similar badges on their chests.

The voice in Ron's head immediately demanded that Ron get one of those badges, but was cut off by Malfoy's next words.

"And this isn't all they do—look!" Malfoy revealed the next part of the badge, which proudly declared **POTTER STINKS**.

"Oh, _very_ funny. Really _witty_." Hermione was glaring at Malfoy, and Ron saw Harry suddenly glance at him. However, any glare that Ron could have sent Harry's way was interrupted by Malfoy's next words.

"Want one, Granger? I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."

And for the first time in days, Ron's anger was being directed at someone other than Harry. Once again, however, his thoughts were cut short as several people bumped into him, eager to escape the space between Harry and Malfoy as Hermione warned, "_Harry!"_

Ron looked up in time to see Malfoy draw his wand as well, softly saying "Go on, then, Potter. Moody's not here to look after you now—" Ron suddenly remembered a bouncing white ferret, as well as happier times "…do it, if you've got the guts."

With surprisingly good timing and aim, two spells were cast in a moment, and ricocheted off of each other, hitting Hermione and Goyle.

Although he was unable to tell exactly what curses were cast, Ron ran to Hermione to see what the effect was. He had to drag her hand away from her mouth, and was shocked to see that her teeth were rapidly elongating. He shot a glare at Harry, who seemed rather shocked by the whole thing, but froze as the voice of one of his worst enemies permeated the air.

"And what's all this noise about?"

All of the Slytherins hurried to answer their Head of House, but Snape pointed to the one who would be able to give the most one-sided story. "Explain." Malfoy lost no time. "Potter attacked me, sir—"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry was glaring at the Potions teacher.

"—and he hit Goyle – look –"

The crony's face was becoming more disgusting by the second, and Snape sent him off to the hospital wing.

His anger at the injustice of it finally forced into words, Ron shouted "Malfoy got Hermione, look!"

Snape's cool glare froze Ron for a second, before the greasy man turned his gaze upon Hermione, remarking, "I see no difference."

As Ron and Harry both stared at Snape, rage growing, Hermione burst into tears and ran off, which finally set off the boy's anger.

Although he had trouble hearing through his own curses, Ron thought he heard Harry shouting some of the words that Ron himself had taught him.

None of this seemed to faze Snape, though, and he softly smiled as he dealt judgment. "Let's see, fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Potter and Weasley. Now get inside or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."

Honestly considering the possibility of jinxing Snape into oblivion, Ron realized that the entire class was staring at Harry and him and edging into the classroom. In his anger, he almost followed Harry into their usual seat, but snapped out of it at the last second, instead heading over to where Dean and Seamus sat.

Sunk in his own mulish thoughts, Ron was thoroughly surprised when the dungeon door slammed open, leaving a very small figure in the doorway. Ron briefly wondered why Colin Creevey would come into the dungeons, but soon reached his answer when he saw him nervously grin at Harry. He suddenly realized that the ceiling was much more interesting than whatever would happen next.

He was mildly surprised that Snape's voice didn't freeze Colin on the spot when he asked what he wanted.

"Please sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs." _Of course. Probably for autographs. Maybe even an interview. Heh. Oh, and photos of course._

"Potter has another hour of Potions to complete. He will come upstairs when this class is finished." _Hmm. Maybe Snape actually has a good head on his shoulders._ At this comment, Ron realized that the little voice in head might actually be rather stupid.

"Sir – sir, Mr. Bagman wants him. All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs." _Of course. _Photographs!_ Any celebrity needs to skip class for _photographs.

Ron drowned out the rest of the conversation. He knew that Harry would go. Creevey would make sure of that.

Well, thanks for reading!

It's a bit of a shorter chapter, but I realized that my brain was dead, and that I have been starving my poor readers.

I hope to wrap this up in the next two chapters, but school starts soon, and I've had a Kingdom Hearts story bouncing around in my brain for a while, so I'll write whenever I can. I guarantee, though, that this will end after the first task.

Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers!

Thayet1231, korrd, CRIMSON HAZE, and loonygrl90, stand up and take a bow!

Whoever reviews will also be included in the next chapter of….

The Fourth Champion, My Former Best Friend!

Up, Up, and Awayyyyyy!

flies off to the ever-diminishing Land of Summer Reading


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